Mediation

Trying to talk in an electronic world.

In a writing class earlier this week, students were working on a collaborative project. As they gathered and organized information, we kept track using a google doc. It’s a simple solution for moving from independent research to group research, and things worked fairly well until I asked the students to discuss and categorize the material the class had compiled. To facilitate a full class discussion, I first wanted students to discuss in small groups.

“Talk at your table to come up with some categories for our research.”

Silence.

I don’t know the cause for certain, but the silence conveyed a frightening reality: They struggled to have a conversation, even after having effectively gathered information online. The technological communication facilitated through a simple google doc crumbled when I asked them to move from typed to spoken language.

My heart thumped with anxiety and frustration.

“This will require you to speak to each other, by the way,” I said after waiting a bit over a minute, the maximum time I could handle the silence and the existential dread accompanying the realization that talking to humans has become somehow difficult.

One student reflexively started typing in the google doc, “So, what do you guys think?”

I ended class early, before someone could type a response.